British Columbia

Vancouver driver busted with cellphone, tablet attached to steering wheel

A motorist gets a ticket and a "lengthy" talk about road safety after a Vancouver police officer sees him driving with an iPhone and a tablet attached to his steering wheel.

'Can't make it up,' says officer, tweeting photo of elaborate setup

A driver was caught wheeling around Vancouver with an iPhone and a tablet strapped to his steering wheel on Wednesday. (VPD Traffic Unit/Twitter)

No hands, big problem.

A Vancouver motorist was ticketed on Wednesday for driving with an iPhone and a tablet attached to his steering wheel.

The Vancouver Police Department's traffic unit tweeted a photo of the elaborate setup. The cellphone — hooked up to a charger — appeared to be attached to the wheel with zipties. The tablet seemed to be wedged in between them. 

"Can't make it up," an officer wrote.

Police handed the driver an $81 ticket for failing to produce his driver's licence but, following "a lengthy conversation about road safety," did not issue a ticket for distracted driving, according to a police spokesman.

"Based on the information collected during their conversation, our officer decided that educating the driver about the devices would be the most effective approach," Const. Jason Doucette said in a statement.

A distracted driving ticket comes with a $368 fine.

It's far from the first unusual distracted driving bust in B.C. in recent weeks. On Tuesday, another Vancouver driver was ticketed for playing Pokemon Go on his iPad.

He was caught after pulling up beside two officers while playing and driving. He was issued a $368 ticket. 

Last month a 51-year-old woman was hit with the same fine after she was caught playing that same game behind the wheel in New Westminster.

Corrections

  • An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the tablet on the wheel as an iPad. In fact, it is not an Apple product.
    Nov 15, 2017 4:09 PM PT